It is well known in optical scanning systems that a rotating scanning element, such as an angled reflecting mirror, will project and scan a collimated light beam along a line across the surface of an article. To scan the entire article, the rotating scanning element is moved relative to the article in a direction parallel to the axis of scanning element rotation, thus tracing a plurality of scan lines across the article. Such axial movement of the scanning element often induces scanning element vibration, adversely affecting the quality of the scan. One solution to this problem is to precisely control scanning element movement. The mechanism required for providing precise, vibration-free control over scanning element movement, however, is both complicated and expensive. Accordingly, the use of axially moving scanning elements is not preferred for high quality (high resolution) scanning systems. Preferably, scanning of the entire article is accomplished by fixing the position of the rotating scanning element and moving the article in a direction parallel to the axis of scanning element rotation.